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Sunday, February 12, 2006

Medic 14 - coming soon to a station near you

From what I understand, there will be another Medic Truck put into service at Fire Station #14 within the next month. All that the plan is waiting for is the go ahead from the County. Station 14 currently houses Engine 14, which includes the staffing of 1 Captain, 1 Lieutenant (driver), and 2 Firefighter/EMT-B's. With the arrival of Medic 14, there will be a need for the addition of 2 Firefighter/Paramedics or 1 FF/PM and 1 FF/EMT. All sources are currently saying that the County will staff the extra two personnel. The Medic truck will respond to a first due area which includes parts of Northeast City, Southeast City, and back up Read Mountain's area in Roanoke County.

In an effort to explain that these are not only my own questions, I have incorporated numerous thoughts/questions which I have heard over the past week or two about this new Medic Truck.

  1. Will this truck be referred to as Medic Fourteen or Medic One Four ? There is question whether or not the personnel will be able to decipher between hearing this and Medic Four or Medic One, depending on which the Department decides to go with. You figure though, we have an Engine 4 and an Engine 14. Not much different from having Medic 1, 4, and 14.
  2. Have we already purchased an ambulance for this purpose, or will they be using a reserve unit until we can purchase a new rig?
  3. Why not use our staff which is currently at Clearbrook Station #7 for this and let the County staff Clearbrook completely? This leads to several other questions.
  4. Is there indeed a plan, or a committee for a Regional Consolidation? If so, where is it.
  5. If there is even the thought of a Regional Fire-EMS Department, then why is the County building a new 911 center on their own? Why isn't it a regional 911 center?
  6. Again, if there is a regional plan, why isn't the City and County joining up and building joint stations?
These are just some questions that I have heard recently in the wake of hearing about the new Medic truck. If you have any other comments, add them below. If you know the answer to any of the questions, let me know.

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